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Feminism is not pointless

I affirm "Resolved: Feminism is not pointless" Definitions: Feminism: the intellectual, philosophical and political discourse aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women (1) Discourse: formal discussion (2) Pointless: devoid of effectiveness (3) Observation 1: In order to keep debate fair, we must not deter to the philosophical concept that nothing has a "point", moreover it is important that we indeed accept the general cause for existence and action, hence the definition for "pointless". Besides, if nothing ever had a point to it, then logically nobody would ever be doing anything. I am just trying to avoid Chaos Theory argumentation. Observation 2: The resolution dictates that feminism is NOT pointless, meaning that the affirmative has the burden to prove said statement, and the negative must prove that feminism IS pointless. Because of this double negative topic, like all others, the burden of proof falls on the negative, as the default is that feminism is, in fact, not pointless. So, judges, keep in mind that you default AFF if the arguments wash, equal, or succeed (for the affirmative) Contention 1: "Feminism is just" As no resource is necessary to prove, women were the LAST minority to be given rights during the development of the US. African americans had their struggles with slavery, and later segregation, but ultimately the problem was solved with the granting of suffrage, unity and all other full and equal american rights to black...MALES. Women waited until the 1920's, JUST to receive their suffrage, and today they still remain absent of many rights not only in America, but ESPECIALLY across seas. Rape, discrimination, abuse and overall treatment like insects, is beyond plentiful foreign countries. An example of this is the middle-east, where things like temporary and arranged marriages are socially acceptable. Just a few days ago in Saudi Arabia, a woman was kidnapped by the son of her temporary fianc�e, raped, impregnated, beaten and kept prisoner for three years. When the man was arrested by INTERPOL, he was pending trial, however the trial cannot even be held unless the father of the abuser states that he had a relationship with this woman. BUT, wait it gets better, if the man confirms the relationship, his son gets full and complete custody of the children, if he doesn't, she is deported back to her country, where events like this are commonplace. (4) The point I am trying to make, and that any and all reasonable and moral persons will agree, is that women are less than or equal to men in societies eye at best. For this reason, it is just for any theory or organization to support the equality of all human beings, gender-blind. Contention 2: "Feminism is effective" It is clear that the feminism is effective because of how far women's rights have come over the years. Ages ago, women were treated like dirt worldwide. Tools for sex, tools for housework, tools for children. Nothing else. Until the feminist movement came along, and helped bring women closer to their goal of international human equality. Although some regions around the world still publicly and politically discriminate, massive amounts of progress has been made. I would hope that the example of US women would be enough, but to ensure my source points, look at the last couple of sources at the bottom of this text if you need more evidence (5-9). The impact of this contention is: Because we define "pointless" the way we do, having this insurmountable pile of evidence to prove that feminism is far from pointless ensures your vote for the affirmative. I apologize for not doing this earlier, but thank you so much for posting this debate. I love the topic and it's the best I've seen out of the challenge period right now, so I am honored to debate. (1) - http://en.wikipedia.org... (2) - http://en.wikipedia.org... (3) - http://www.merriam-webster.com... (4) - http://sandgetsinmyeyes.blogspot.com... (5) - http://www.guardian.co.uk... (6) - http://www.aclu-nj.org... (7) - http://www.thefreelibrary.com...'s+rights:+how+far+has+Namibia+come+in...-a0165807216 (8) - http://forum.japantoday.com... (9) - http://blog.aclu.org...